Coca Cola London Eye

A giant Ferris wheel on the South Bank of the River In January 2015, Lonon
eye is renamed by Cocacola as as the Coca-Cola London Eye. The London Eye
structure is 443 feet tall and the wheel has a diameter of 394 feet. It was
errecte in 1999 as the world's tallest Ferris wheel. Its height was surpassed by
the 520 feet (158 m) tall Star of Nanchang in 2006, the 541 feet (165 m) tall
Singapore Flyer in 2008, and the 550 feet (168 m) High Roller (Las Vegas) in
2014. Supported by an A-frame on one side only, unlike the taller Nanchang and
Singapore wheels, the Eye is described by its operators as "the world's tallest
cantilevered observation wheel".

It is Europe's tallest Ferris wheel, and offered the highest public viewing
point in London[10] until it was superseded by the 804 feet (245 m) [11]
observation deck on the 72nd floor of The Shard, which opened to the public on 1
February 2013. It is the most popular paid tourist attraction in the United
Kingdom with over 3.75 million visitors annually,[13] and has made many
appearances in popular culture.

The London Eye adjoins the western end of Jubilee Gardens (previously the
site of the former Dome of Discovery), on the South Bank of the River Thames
between Westminster Bridge and Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of
Lambeth.

Location

The Coca-Cola London Eye is situated on the South Bank of the river
Thames, opposite the Houses of Parliament. The ticket office is located inside
County Hall, which is the building directly next to the London Eye.

The London Eye
Riverside Building
County Hall
Westminster Bridge Road
London
SE1 7PB

Private Capsules
A Private Capsule is the ultimate way to experience the 360° views of London
with your friends and family. Hire one of our 32 capsules for your own exclusive
use over a 30 minute rotation.

Friends and Family Capsule
To celebrate anniversaries or birthday milestones for 3-15 guests, the Friends
and Family capsule is just what you need. Hire one of our 32 capsules for your
own exclusive use over a 30 minute rotation.

Cupid's Capsule
The spectacular views of London combined with Champagne and chocolates make the
perfect romantic backdrop for that special someone.

Proposal Capsule
The Proposal Capsule provides that all important privacy for you and your loved
one, 135 metres above London with one of the most spectacular city views in the
world as your backdrop, who could say no?

Weddings
Every wedding day is special and Coca-Cola London Eye provides a spectacular
setting for your celebration. We have designed a fabulous choice of wedding
ceremony and reception packages and our team can arrange any additional
requirements you may have. We can also arrange Hen and Stag packages.
Blue Sky Thinking
The Coca-Cola London Eye provides a backdrop like no other that is ideal to get
the creative juices flowing and focus on the task at hand. Solve your problem
135 metres above London!

Dining at 135
Dining at 135 is a truly fabulous dining experience for up to 8 guests where the
Coca-Cola London Eye will be exclusively opened for you out of hours.

Private Boat Hire
In addition to the private hospitality offerings available on the Coca-Cola
London Eye, we also partner with a luxury private charter fleet on the River
Thames.

Private and Corporate Events
Iconic, unusual London party venues for hire exclusively from Merlin Events, the
official event management company for London’s premier attractions: Madame
Tussauds, the London Dungeon, SEA LIFE London Aquarium, the London Eye, Shrek’s
Adventure! London, Movies at Madame Tussauds and the Riverside Rooms.

History of London Eye

Predecessor

A predecessor to the London Eye, the Great Wheel, was built for the Empire of
India Exhibition at Earls Court and opened to the public on 17 July 1895.[14]
Modelled on the original Chicago Ferris Wheel, it was 94 metres (308 ft)
tall[15] and 82.3 metres (270 ft) in diameter. It stayed in service until 1906,
by which time its 40 cars (each with a capacity of 40 persons) had carried over
2.5 million passengers. The Great Wheel was demolished in 1907 following its
last use at the Imperial Austrian Exhibition.

Design and construction

Supported by an A-frame on one side only, the Eye is described by its
operators as a cantilevered observation wheel
The London Eye was designed by architects Frank Anatole, Nic Bailey, Steve
Chilton, Malcolm Cook, Mark Sparrowhawk, and the husband-and-wife team of Julia
Barfield and David Marks.

Mace was responsible for construction management, with Hollandia as the main
steelwork contractor and Tilbury Douglas as the civil contractor. Consulting
engineers Tony Gee & Partners designed the foundation works while Beckett
Rankine designed the marine works.

Nathaniel Lichfield and Partners assisted The Tussauds Group in obtaining
planning and listed building consent to alter the wall on the South Bank of the
Thames. They also examined and reported on the implications of a Section 106
agreement attached to the original contract, and also prepared planning and
listed building consent applications for the permanent retention of the
attraction, which involved the co-ordination of an Environmental Statement and
the production of a planning supporting statement detailing the reasons for its
retention.

The spindle, hub, and tensioned cables that support the rim
The rim of the Eye is supported by tensioned steel cables[24] and resembles a
huge spoked bicycle wheel. The lighting was redone with LED lighting from Color
Kinetics in December 2006 to allow digital control of the lights as opposed to
the manual replacement of gels over fluorescent tubes.

The wheel was constructed in sections which were floated up the Thames on
barges and assembled lying flat on piled platforms in the river. Once the wheel
was complete it was lifted into an upright position by a strand jack system made
by Enerpac. It was first raised at 2 degrees per hour until it reached 65
degrees, then left in that position for a week while engineers prepared for the
second phase of the lift. The project was European with major components coming
from six countries: the steel was supplied from the UK and fabricated in The
Netherlands by the Dutch company Hollandia, the cables came from Italy, the
bearings came from Germany (FAG/Schaeffler Group), the spindle and hub were cast
in the Czech Republic, the capsules were made by Poma in France (and the glass
for these came from Italy), and the electrical components from the UK.

Opening

The London Eye was formally opened by then Prime Minister Tony Blair on 31
December 1999, but did not open to the paying public until 9 March 2000 because
of a capsule clutch problem.

On 5 June 2008 it was announced that 30 million people had ridden the London
Eye since it opened.

Passenger capsules

Each of the 32 ovoidal capsules weighs 10 tonnes and can carry 25 people
The wheel's 32 sealed and air-conditioned ovoidal passenger capsules,
designed[29] and supplied[30] by Poma, are attached to the external
circumference of the wheel and rotated by electric motors. Each of the 10-tonne
(11-short-ton)[31] capsules represents one of the London Boroughs,[24] and holds
up to 25 people,[32] who are free to walk around inside the capsule, though
seating is provided. The wheel rotates at 26 cm (10 in) per second (about 0.9
kph or 0.6 mph) so that one revolution takes about 30 minutes. It does not
usually stop to take on passengers; the rotation rate is slow enough to allow
passengers to walk on and off the moving capsules at ground level.[31] It is,
however, stopped to allow disabled or elderly passengers time to embark and
disembark safely.

In 2009 the first stage of a £12.5 million capsule upgrade began. Each
capsule was taken down and floated down the river to Tilbury Docks in Essex.

On 2 June 2013 a passenger capsule was named the Coronation Capsule to mark
the sixtieth anniversary of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

Ownership and branding

London Eye at twilight

The Eye on the South Bank of the Thames, with Jubilee Gardens (left) and
County Hall (right) in the background
Marks Barfield (the lead architects), Tussauds Group, and British Airways were
the original owners of the London Eye. Tussauds bought out British Airways in
2005 and then Marks Barfield in 2006 to become sole owner. Ownership passed to
Merlin Entertainments when it purchased Tussauds in 2007. British Airways
continued its brand association, but from the beginning of 2008 the name
'British Airways' was dropped from the logo.

On 12 August 2009 the London Eye saw another rebrand, this time being called
"The Merlin Entertainments London Eye" to show Merlin Entertainments' ownership.
A new logo was designed for the attraction—this time taking the form of an eye
made out of London's famous landmarks. This coincided with the launch of Merlin
Entertainments 4D Experience preflight show underneath the ticket centre in
County Hall. The refurbished ticket hall and 4D cinema experience were designed
by architect Kay Elliott working with Merlin Studios project designer Craig
Sciba. Merlin Studios later appointed Simex-Iwerks as the 4D theatre hardware
specialists. The film was written and directed by 3D director Julian Napier and
3D produced by Phil Streather.

In January 2011, a lighting-up ceremony marked the start of a three-year deal
between EDF Energy and Merlin Entertainments.[41][42] On 1 August 2014 the logo
was reverted to the previous "The Merlin Entertainments London Eye" version,
with the name becoming simply "The London Eye".

In September 2014, Coca-Cola signed an agreement to sponsor the London Eye
for two years, starting from January 2015. On the day of the announcement, the
London Eye was lit in red.

Financial difficulties

Colourful London Eye near County Hall
On 20 May 2005, there were reports of a leaked letter showing that the South
Bank Centre (SBC)—owners of part of the land on which the struts of the Eye are
located—had served a notice to quit on the attraction along with a demand for an
increase in rent from £64,000 per year to £2.5 million, which the operators
rejected as unaffordable.

On 25 May 2005, London mayor Ken Livingstone vowed that the landmark would
remain in London. He also pledged that if the dispute was not resolved he would
use his powers to ask the London Development Agency to issue a compulsory
purchase order.[45] The land in question is a small part of the Jubilee Gardens,
which was given to the SBC for £1 when the Greater London Council was broken up.

The South Bank Centre and the British Airways London Eye agreed on a 25-year
lease on 8 February 2006 after a judicial review over the rent dispute. The
lease agreement meant that the South Bank Centre, a publicly funded charity,
would receive at least £500,000 a year from the attraction, the status of which
is secured for the foreseeable future. Tussauds also announced the acquisition
of the entire one-third interests of British Airways and Marks Barfield in the
Eye as well as the outstanding debt to BA. These agreements gave Tussauds 100%
ownership and resolved the debt from the Eye's construction loan from British
Airways, which stood at more than £150 million by mid-2005 and had been
increasing at 25% per annum.[46]

Critical reception[edit]
Sir Richard Rogers, winner of the 2007 Pritzker Architecture Prize, wrote of the
London Eye in a book about the project:

The Eye has done for London what the Eiffel Tower did for Paris, which is to
give it a symbol and to let people climb above the city and look back down on
it. Not just specialists or rich people, but everybody. That's the beauty of it:
it is public and accessible, and it is in a great position at the heart of
London.[47]

Writing for G2 in an article from August 2007, Steve Rose described the Eye as
follows:

The Eye... exists in a category of its own.... It essentially has to fulfil only
one function, and what a brilliantly inessential function it is: to lift people
up from the ground, take them round a giant loop in the sky, then put them back
down where they started. That is all it needs to do, and thankfully, that is all
it does.